Redskins Fantasy News

Team News

Redskins TE Jordan Reed (hamstring) took limited practice reps Wednesday. Reed says he’s going to play on Sunday. If he’s out Niles Paul is a decent dart throw with Colt McCoy at quarterback. Of his 42 pass attempts, McCoy targeted a tight end 35.7% of the time in a game and a half of action.

Washington is planning to start Colt McCoy over Robert Griffin III on Sunday at Indianapolis, per a team source.
While Griffin is not a part of Washington's plan for Sunday's game, he still appears to be a significant part of the Redskins' long-term plan, per another source.

Yet right now, Washington is hitting the reset button, though it might not last long, a source cautioned.

Fantasy Impact:

McCoy has played a game and a half of football this season, relieving Kirk Cousins in the second half of Week 7 against the Titans. In that game he threw for 128 yards, which included a 70-yard touchdown to Pierre Garcon. He started the following week in Dallas, throwing for 299 yards and an interception, while also rushing for 16 yards and a touchdown. More importantly, the Redskins beat the Cowboys, 20-17. The thing that jumps out about McCoy is his YPA, which is 10.2 on 42 attempts. This is a rather small sample size, but it is an encouraging sign for McCoy backers. The move may be good for DeSean Jackson, who had six catches for 136 yards in McCoy's start against Dallas. Jackson had a nice Week 8 game with Griffin against the Vikings, but only caught six passes for 74 yards combined in the last two games. McCoy doesn't have a bad matchup the rest of the way.

HC Jay Gruden's calling a vanilla offense because Griffin can’t handle a more complicated scheme right now. He has to call quick-hitters in an attempt to get the ball out of the quarterback’s hands, because he’s holding on to it too long as he struggles to play with rhythm and anticipation.

Gruden couldn’t afford to have Griffin stand in the pocket and wait for things to unfold downfield on Sunday because of the fierce 49ers defense. He got sacked six times while waiting for intermediate routes to unfold. Gruden tried to spice things up by calling for the Pierre Garcon end-around/pass downfield. He also called for Griffin to take a shot downfield, but he threw into double coverage and didn’t even see Pierre Garcon wide open in single coverage, also downfield.

Fantasy Impact:

Jones answered many frustrating questions from fans about RGIII. Another interesting answer was that Gruden is likely very frustrated Griffin hasn't picked up more of the offense by now, which leads Gruden to say things like: they intend to start Griffin this week. Jones went on to say Gruden was hired to fix RGIII but so far that hasn't happened and while he likely feels he needs to give RGIII more time, watching this offense is a struggle. It all adds up to meaning just about everyone on the Redskins offense is a risky fantasy play, especially as we head into the fantasy playoff season.

Redskins WR Pierre Garçon would rather be catching passes than throwing them. Last year Garçon was targeted 181 times, or more than 11 times per game. This season he has been targeted 68 times, about six times per game. He’s on pace to catch 67 passes this year, a far cry for the team-record 113 he caught in 2013.

It was expected that Garçon would catch fewer passes last year with the addition of DeSean Jackson. But it’s not like he has caught a ton of passes either; Jackson will catch 61 at his current pace.

The Redskins have started three different quarterbacks this year and while all have struggled in various ways, Robert Griffin III has been the least effective of them and he has started the last three games, all losses.

Redskins coach Jay Gruden understands the frustration.

“You get paid to play wide receiver,” he said. “You get paid to catch balls and they’re not catching the balls they’re accustomed to catching. We’ve just got to find out ways to get them the ball. You only have one ball. You hand the ball off to Alfred and throw some quick gains. The backs are involved, the tight ends are involved and over the course of the game, sometimes you don’t get as many as you would like.”

Fantasy Impact:

Perhaps the final hope for Garcon owners was the return of RGIII at QB. Garcon's targets had dipped with Colt McCoy and Kirk Cousins under center this season, but that increase hasn't taken place since Griffin returned making Garcon not much of a fantasy option with this struggling offense.

It's doesn't really rule out the team not starting RGIII, but there at least seems to be a good chance they will. The Skins travel to Indy and will likely need to score some points against Andrew Luck and company - something the team hasn't really done the last two weeks. RGIII is a risky play.

Colby Fleener would get the nod again if Allen doesn't play. Even with Allen out in Week 12, Fleener didn't produce the fantasy numbers owners hoped for. The Colts host the Redskins in a pretty friendly matchup in Week 13.

“I just feel like he’s ready to break out. I really do. You use the old olive jar analogy. The olives are packed in there real tight and you open up the lid and you can’t get any to come out. You can even dump it upside down and it doesn’t come out. But if you get that one to come out, then they just want to all come out and plop out. So, I think that’s the case and I think it’s going to happen soon. Hopefully this weekend. Get that one big one and then they start coming out.”

Fantasy Impact:

Harbaugh has been asked repeatedly this week about Davis's lack of production, so he may be focused on getting his talented tight end going (or at least cognizant that he hasn't been producing). The matchup with the Redskins is favorable. Owners in need of a dart throw could do worse than Davis, who is one of the most talented tight ends in the league.

Friday, November 21, 2014, 6:26pm

Dolphins TE Charles Clay (knee, doubtful) missed practice again Friday and is doubtful for Week 12. Midweek downgrades due to new injuries typically result in a missed game and the doubtful tag confirms that he’s likely to miss Week 12. There are no good alternatives in Miami, though owners could pickup and start someone like Coby Fleener, Niles Paul or Marcedes Lewis.

Friday, November 21, 2014, 6:26pm

Redskins TE Jordan Reed (hamstring, out) missed practice all week and is out for Week 12. Reed’s injury is not to the same hamstring as his injury earlier in the year. Niles Paul will be a Sneaky Start in his place, though the Redskins’ passing game has taken a step back since the return of Robert Griffin III. Paul averaged 4.5-58-0.25 in four games as he starter — he was the #11 TE in that span.

Paul was pretty good earlier in the year in a starting role. The Redskins may have trouble running on the 49ers, so that could lead to pass-happy play-calling by HC Jay Gruden.

Thursday, November 20, 2014, 5:58pm

Redskins TE Jordan Reed (hamstring) missed practice again Thursday. Reed’s injury is not in the same hamstring as his injury earlier in the year. If he’s out, Niles Paul will be a Sneaky Start in his place, though the Redskins’ passing game has taken a step back since the return of Robert Griffin III.

Wednesday, November 19, 2014, 6:11pm

Redskins TE Jordan Reed (hamstring) did not practice Wednesday. Reed’s injury is not in the same hamstring as his injury earlier in the year. If he’s out, Niles Paul will be a Sneaky Start in his place, though the Redskins’ passing game has taken a step back since the return of Robert Griffin III.

Rams head coach Jeff Fisher announced after Wednesday’s practice that the team has shifted to Shaun Hill as its starting quarterback.

“It’s never an easy decision when you make a change in the middle part of the season,” Fisher said. “But we looked at things Monday night and had lengthy discussions with the offensive staff, and just felt that the best thing to do at this point going forward was to lean on the experienced quarterback.”

Hill suffered a quad injury in the Rams’ Week 1 loss to the Vikings, and Austin Davis took over at the position. Fisher named Davis the full-time starter following the bye week. The head coach said he told the team today that he appreciated Davis’ hard work, poise, dedication, and tireless effort in preparation. Fisher also noted that when Davis was named the starter, Hill had, for all intents and purposes, lost his job due to injury.

Fantasy Impact:

Fisher said Hill's transition should be easy going back to the starter. Hill has some favorable matchups the next three weeks which could put him into the QB2 conversation: Chargers, Raiders and Redskins.

Redskins tight end Jordan Reed strained his right hamstring -- he dealt with a strained left hamstring earlier this season.

Fantasy Impact:

The frustration continues to grow for Reed owners as he's now had issues with both hamstrings. Niles Paul has proven capable of filling in but we'll have to see Reed's status throughout the week and leading up to the game. At this point, owners are probably better off going another direction, especially given the inconsistent play of QB Robert Griffin III.